Strange Trails is brilliantly paced, and each song itself is brilliantly paced.

Harmlessness is a perfect record and it’s the best one we’ll hear in 2015 and nothing will come close. The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die have created their magnum opus and the most transcendent and challenging piece of music to emerge from modern rock in a long, long time.

It's bold, intelligent, and demanding--taking all your emotions and senses and beating them to a pulp while going to a place sonically that’s essentially been untouched by its peers.

This album is going to be important for a number of reasons, but above all, it's going to be important because it is a great album. Very few people in the realm of pop music, if anyone, take risks like this.

This is not disposable music--it’s exhausting and exhilarating and desolate and hopeful all at once--and there are layers both musically and lyrically that’ll reveal themselves with each subsequent spin. Pianos Become The Teeth’s third record is the most captivating and rewarding record of 2014--one that will be remembered as a classic within the genre and a gateway to those outside it.

Quite simply, there hasn’t been a Copeland album as complete as Ixora.

The perfect album, albums with no filler, albums that when over, leave you breathless and don't inspire you to want more music from the band, but make you want to listen to the album from the start, all over again; m b v is that album.

As listeners, as fans of music, we've already hit the lottery here.

It is my firm belief that The Greatest Generation has no real precedent in this community.

For those who are willing to go in without preconceived notions, this album is a masterpiece: a stunning feat of songwriting depth, emotional maturity, and melodic effortlessness that stands as one of the best albums to come out in years.

Musically and lyrically, The Age of Adz is exhilarating, challenging, and thought-provoking.

This is the best record released so far this year, and there very likely will not be one that can top it.

Carrie & Lowell leaves everything on the table, and as a result it's the most open, transparent and heartfelt record Stevens has made in his career. Sometimes, that's all you need in order to make a masterpiece.

With From Parts Unknown, Every Time I Die have hit the Ultimate Splash on its competition, absolutely cementing its legacy as one of the greatest heavy bands of our generation.

Is Survived By is a genuine, life-affirming piece of art that’ll move even the blackest of souls.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is exactly as advertised: it's a journey through West's deepest thoughts, showcasing all the facets to his persona (from his bravado to his insecurities) over a pristine collection of all his signature sounds.

No Devolucion is inventive, remarkable, and the first true masterpiece of 2011.

Take the time to listen to this album, front to back. Pick up on the subtleties and metaphors, because you don't hear this kind of poetry from a band every day.

With their third full-length, The Wonder Years have made a record that's as timeless as they come.

They’ve re-affirmed their place as one of the best bands in the world and have created an album that is insightful, emotional, fun and just damn amazing.

With this record, the band not only rose up to the bar set by their contemporaries, they raised it to a new level-- which is a good thing, because if this record is the new standard for the metalcore genre, then the future is looking incredibly bright.

Make Do And Mend has released the best album of their young career and one of the essential, must-have albums of 2012.

Taking their sound into a much darker (and riffier) realm comes as a bit of a surprise, but the band pulls it off with such excellence and grace that the shift isn't even jarring.

Isbell isn't your average songwriter, and on Something More Than Free, there's a pretty strong argument to be made that he's outplaying anyone else in the game right now.

The band has eclipsed the success of their debut record, creating the first masterpiece of the year and a record that will remain one for years to come.

It's a return trip to the well that provided Nothing is Wrong, but one made by a band that has gained significant perspective, clout, and chops in the four years that have now passed since that record.

On They Want My Soul, Spoon’s most wide-ranging and eclectic album of its career, this isn’t a band who are settling in to their collective stride, but searching for new places entirely.

It's officially a biennial tradition that The Wonder Years release a new record that happens to be their best record to date.

Where When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes was safe at times and perhaps slightly predictable, Southern Air keeps listeners intrigued and invested throughout. This is the best pop-punk album of 2012.

[The songs] are nothing short of radiant, from the perfect vocals to the organic, full-bodied arrangements, from the heart-rending lyrics to the way that producer Charlie Peacock surrounds everything in a smoky ambiance.

As the record comes to a close, it's impossible not to note the true creativity exerted throughout the entirety of Codes and Keys.

Ditching the psychedelic rock for an album that mines from disco, synth-pop and R&B in equal measure is a move that is sure to alienate some of the Tame Impala fan base, but the fact that Kevin was able to stretch himself into this kind of new territory is undeniably a feat in its own right. It's just icing on the cake that Currents also happens to rival Lonerism as Tame Impala's masterpiece.

The result is a record that feels as weighty as a work of literature, but also as enveloping and beautiful as the best albums that the folk music genre has ever produced.

Bigger, badder, and louder than ever, Ex Lives will go down as the definitive Every Time I Die record.

The title track kicks things off with a familiar formula, with ghostly vocal samples and static noise building into a beat that kicks off, and from there things start to feel a little less familiar than they have in the past.

It'll be difficult to find many albums that can top the type of creativity Odd Soul contains, making it one of the essential must-have albums of 2011.

It's the bold, adventurous and grandiose album that the Top 40 charts needs right now.

This album is more than just an album-of-the-year candidate, this is a disc that is far-reaching, endlessly appealing and as strong as anything that's been released in the Americana genre in the last half-decade.

The album is 55 minutes of simplistic storytelling, Oberst’s ever recognizable vocals and a whole lot of heart. If you’ve been an Oberst fan at any point of his career before 2009, it’s a record that’s easy to fall in love with.

Shad's most recent album, 2010's TSOL, builds right where The Old Prince left off, and is even more impressive.

The album lives up to its title in every way and should prove essential for old and new fans alike.

In a year that's produced an overwhelming amount of great music, Simple Math is another outstanding painting worth the public's attention.

Simply put, this record already feels timeless.

This is a truly magnificent record, and I think it’s going to end up being the album for which we remember Vampire Weekend.

Rooms Of The House is an album that refuses to be pigeonholed or boxed in by someone's standards of "what post-hardcore should be." Instead, La Dispute span multiple genres, tempos, and inspirations over the course of LP3, resulting in an album that's equally exhausting as it is enchanting.

Given the proper attention and respect, Letlive's The Blackest Beautiful will reveal itself as a masterpiece--a record that will redefine your musical preconceptions and tastes for the better,

These songs aren’t just lovelorn poetry or odes of heartbreak; they’re full stories, five-minute films, expansive novels written in staves, rests, and music notes for the rest of us to bleed to.

While the lyrics are what everyone will talk about, it’s Hall’s voice that makes them work. That insistent yelp, straining to create melody without being beholden to it.

Place A Wilhelm Scream into whatever brand of punk genre there is, it doesn't matter. It is unquestionably the best album released this year in whatever genre you choose

Its a testament to the fact that Tim Hecker is one of the best artists making music today, constantly pushing his sound to new heights while keep his signature style at the core of it all.

This is something that has no expiration date.

One of the most unique, reflective, darkly humorous, and brilliant records to grace ears in a while.

Their talented musicianship signals they are out of step with their peers experimentally as grindcore architects; likewise, Darker Handcraft will trap you easily in frenetic whiplash mode.

The Maccabees have returned as a highly evolved beast more than ready to be released into the wild world.

Walker has truly outdone himself with an album that captures all the nuances that made "Letters And Meadows" shine, and extracts them bit by bit to give every individual track its own breath.

It's a take it or leave it, and for arguably the most consistent band in the scene over the last decade, Major/Minor is a triumph. What else and to whom do they need to prove anything anymore anyway?

Diamond Eyes is full of layers and dimensions, making it an auditory treat that listeners will want to continue to indulge themselves in. This is an album you can blast from my car stereo and then later dissect through headphones.

The elements of the band complement each other instead of over-powering, thus making Ø (Disambiguation) brutally beautiful and instantly memorable.

Wasting Light isn't perfect, but its flaws are essential to its being.

As High As The Highest Heavens And From The Center To The Circumference Of The Earth doesn't just sound good, it grabs hold of every intricate audible sense in your nervous system for the entire journey of the album.

While Flowers is a bit more reserved in his solo outing, Flamingo still retains a bit the thematic charm of a typical Killers album.

Found In Far Away Places shows the band exploring brand new territories both instrumentally and lyrically. A clear ‘Album of the Year’ contender for 2015.

Hayden has arguably crafted his finest album to date.

Self-production is no small feat, but with years of experience, they made an impeccable sounding record.

Timez Are Weird These Days is the perfect example of what London is capable of, snatching elements of popular music from across the decades to create a sound that's both nostalgic and refreshing.

As daring as it is confident and poignant in its execution, this album captures both the Converge we know and love and a Converge we're not quite accustomed to--leaving us with an album arguably as striking and challenging as anything the band has done before.

Shields not only matches its predecessor in Grizzly Bear's back catalogue, but it exceeds it.

Hardcore Will Never Die has a good amount of brawn to it but ultimately falls into the category of breathtaking music that isn't made too often.

Nothing Was The Same is the best Drake album yet.

The album represents a triumph for Have a Nice Life after six years of mostly silence, and is a more-than-worthy follow-up to Deathconsciousness.

American Slang takes the best of what the band has shown they can do, and moves it into early '60's Motown, combining it with a rich Springsteen/Strummer sound (which is just how Fallon will always be; it works for him, get over it) over a soulful rhythm section, with sprinkles of Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and Smokey Robinson in there for good measure.

The themes present on Killing Time aren't too in-depth or out of the norm for what you might expect from Bayside, but this band has steadily improved on the lyrical front as it has released more music and Killing Time is no exemption from that rule.

Timez Are Weird These Days is the perfect example of what London is capable of, snatching elements of popular music from across the decades to create a sound that's both nostalgic and refreshing.

Jimmy Eat World have not just changed the game - they continue to reinvent and redevelop it entirely, each and every time.

Seahaven lost themselves at sea (figuratively) and emerged with the most surprising and refreshing album of 2014.

Art Angels is us listening to personal triumph. Grimes has found her voice literally through the music.

Much like The World Is A Beautiful Place... and their new record Harmlessness, Foxing have set a new standard with Dealer not just for emo, but for indie and alternative rock across the board.

Employing help from not only Vernon, but also Norah Jones and Francis and the Lights among others, Voyageur is a true gem.

From heartache and vulnerability through to acceptance and salvaging a friendship when all could have potentially been lost, who needs a plane to fly low when the detail and scenery on offer here in these forty minutes is already far more beautiful, dazzling, and effortlessly uplifting?

Inheritance is as strong an opening statement as any released this year and with it The Last Bison firmly cement themselves as a band to watch in 2013 and beyond.

It's clear that they've tapped into something special with this new lineup and that from the tragic events they suffered through they've been able to reemerge bigger and badder than ever. Purple is their finest hour yet

It’s dynamic and unpredictable while also being Into It. Over It.’s most focused work.

You Will Eventually Be Forgotten is easily one of the best albums of the year.

Metropole is very close to being a masterpiece, falling just short of their own standard set by The Greatest Story Ever Told.

There's a determination in the undertone of the album. That determination in crafting of a band's best record to date, only covered by the confidence it lets off as well.

The Five Ghosts is the band's most consistent album yet, and their best since 2005's "Set Yourself On Fire."

Each and every song is a living, breathing entity, separate in their own way even as they meld into a single cohesive collection.

The complexities and dense topics still remain on Dinosaur, giving the album many layers for the listener to peel apart. Basically, My Dinosaur Life is the fusion of the best moments of Motion City Soundtrack's previous three albums and expanding on that, while maintaining all the uniqueness and quirks that fans love about the band.

[The lyrics] carry a meaning that doesn't stop when the song does.

Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired is just completely enthralling.

Both daring and down right difficult to turn away, consider this among the band's finest work of their career thus far.

Though it can be long and drags at times (namely "Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair") Pour Une Ame Souveraine is a compelling album and another notch on the belt of an artist who continues to pursue her own agenda.

Though he's reluctant to vary his sound, the end results are far too magnetic, far too majestic and far too masterful to even allow a twinge of disappointment.

As a whole, Born and Raised is contrite, earnest and warm.

The sonic evolution of the group is remarkable, and the dark, introspective lyrics of Sykes will not only be cathartic for him, but for many.

Mind-blowing and catchy, Black Up is an album too progressive to pass up. Get on this as soon as possible.

It is all-at-once beautiful, infectious, impressive and brilliant.

With Heaven is Whenever, the most consistent band in rock and roll remains reliable, as The Hold Steady give their sound a fresh update while not straying too far from what makes them so endearing.